At the very least, it is time for the Second Amendment to the US Constitution to be totally repealed. No person who is not active military or police should be permitted to carry or even own a gun, except under special circumstances. More to the point, the current (18th century) US Constitution needs to be scrapped and replaced by a Constitution more applicable to the 21st century, through a Constitutional Convention. In the interim, governance under martial law may be necessary in the US.

graczek ,

Maryland, USA

(12.16.12)

2. Why do people not understand?

Gun control laws really do not help. It's easier to buy an illegal gun on the streets of New York than it is to buy a hot dog. And then you have the people -- such as Lanza's mother -- who purchase guns legally.
I am not a fan of the NRA, nor do I think that an appropriate reading of the Second Amendment extends to lunatics who think it is fun to shoot deer, bear and elk or to run around in the woods on weekends wearing full combat gear and playing pretend soldier. But the fact of the matter is that the weapons which those people acquire are done so legally, after background checks, 30-day wait and some other restrictions. It is also a fact that the majority of people in the United States who are killed by guns are killed by illegal weapons which are sold on the street. How do you propose to control the trade in that? Any thug that wants a weapon can buy one; shouldn't people who wish to protect their homes and property have the same right to acquire a weapon?
It's a tough subject -- there's no denying that. But the number of crazed lunatics who shoot up schools is relatively small -- and over the past twenty years of this bewildering phenomenon -- they all seem to have acquired their weapons legally. Unless you are planning to ban gun ownership in the United States, there's no preventing tragedies such as Columbine and Newtown. And even were you to ban gun ownership, you will only be hurting responsible gun owners. Criminals and thugs will still be able to acquire guns on the street. I don't know how that can be stopped.

Sarah B ,

U.S.A. / Israel

(12.16.12)

3. re:1

wow it is crazies like you who should leave the country and move to europe, the "Constitution, NOW and FOREVER" go ask south americans, africans and middle easterns how there new "21st century 'constitutions'" are working for them, i dont agree with abortion, i dont participate, lets pretend you do, you may do what you please, you dont agree with firearms, dont participate, i do, i may buy if i so please, that is what makes the United States different from any other country, though i still believe you should leave

Ben F. ,

US

(12.16.12)

4. gun low neurotics

do you have strict gun law in israel.
do you have armed criminals and terrorists. is hamas & co.
without arms?
guns are 18th century technology, easy to make and easy to transport.
if you can not stop drugs, and you can´t, you will not stop the guns.
the question is, what hapend in the US in the 60-70th, amoc was uncommon befor the hippy-time.
think about it. ;)

mik ,

germany

(12.16.12)

5. Gun control is not the answer

An estimated 32,000 people will die from car crashes in the coming year. Hundreds of the victims will be children. Should we ban cars to prevent this?
We must be careful with the laws we pass. Our American freedoms are protected, in part, by our ability to possess weapons to defend against both foreign and domestic threats.

owlraft ,

Washington State

(12.16.12)

6. Liberals love gun control becaus they love people control

The real reason liberals love gun control has nothing to do with crime. It has everything to do with controlling people. Liberals love gun control because they love people control.

Chaim ,

Israel

(12.17.12)

7. Gun control and legalizing dugs.....

I'm not a fan of high powered, automatic assault weapons sold legally, but it is not the solution. You can stop even the manufacturing of these weapons and wouldn't bring an end to violence. A sick man would ram his car or truck into a school bus or would throw a bomb into a school. The real problem is complex; comissions and laws are ineffective in a corrupt society, tainted by drugs, lack of discipline, lack of religious education, low quality secular education, lack of family life and general degeneration of the american society. Culturral life? Political life? Liberal polticians are demanding gun control and at the same time pushing for legalization of drugs. Is there any hope? Hope we must, but I'm not optimistic; the american democracy has reached a stage of ineffectiveness.

Shalom ,

U.S.A.

(12.17.12)

8. To #2 -Sarah

Very well said, Sarah.
Changing existing laws will only affect the law abiding citizen, and although these high profile tragedies are heartbraking and bring attention due to the numbers in one incident, more people are killed every week by illegal guns in gun control havens such as Chicago and DC.
As we know, law enforcement is not omnipresent, and when seconds matter they are at best minutes away.
I am a NRA lifetime member, a gun owner, concealed permit holder, and a firearms intructor.
As for Graczek, our anti-semitic troll, he just showed that he has the mental capacity of a gnat.

Benjamin ,

Denver, CO, USA

(12.17.12)

9. The number of registered guns...

Is NOT the important part; it's WHO those guns are registered to that makes the difference.
At present, most states don't require qualifying courses prior to buying firearms.
There's a lot we don't know about this laterst tragedy that might help decide what the US should do--
Why did the shooter kill his mother first? Was it to get the key to a gun safe? Were the guns stored safely at all?
Why are facsimile assault weapons available for sale (the ones supposedly incapable of autiomatic fire)? These weapons can easily be altered to fire full automatic, and it seems like this was the case in this incident. No weapon even remotrely capable of automatic fire should be permitted for sale. Go collect something else.
It's not how many registered guns are out there, it's who those guns are in the hands of that matters.

M. Davison ,

Ra'anana, Israel

(12.17.12)

10. Guns don't kill people...people kill people!!!

This is just another attemp at government trying to take guns away from the people-period! Most of the public, who own guns, are good, respectable, sound-minded people; you'll always have your sick, EVIL murderers out there, regardless if you have more stringent gun laws or not. Our Constitution guarantees our right to have arms--period! But, the idiotic, liberal, socialistic tree-huggers want the guns taken away from the responsible gun owners, so they government can enact, whatever, socialistic agenda it wants without the fear of Constitutional-believing people having the rights to stop them from enacting any policy that infringes upon their basic freedoms. Even if they take the guns away from law-abiding people, the criminals' and murderers' will always have a means to get them; thus, their nefarious activities would get easier to perform. The leftist liberals' are ignorant and cowardly people--period! I, too, want peace...no more guns, but until you can stop the spread of evil, it won't happen! For evil to succeed...good men will have to choose to do nothing, but lie down and let the worst of us run rampage over what good there is left in society as a whole! The real reason for the tragedy in Conneticut is we, in general, have taken God out of every facit of our society, starting back in 1963, when prayer was taken-out of the schools; and, it has only gotten worse. Return to God (of Israel); defeat the evil that is devouring my country (USA) and the world! Read Psalm 9:17! Christian Zionist

Jake Stone ,

USA

(12.17.12)

11. I'm No Fan of NRA, But Gun Control Does Not Work

Look at what happened in Scandinavia not to long ago. Some real strict gun control and yet a huge massacre happened. Huge posses of armed citizens is not the answer either because there are lots of people that just should not own weapons because they are too unstable. I don't have an answer, only questions.